Saturday, October 23, 2004

Current theories on the creation of the Universe state that, if it was created at all and didn't just start, as it were, unofficially, it came into being between ten and twenty thousand million years ago. By the same token the earth itself is generally supposed to be about four and a half thousand million years old.

These dates are incorrect.

Medieval Jewish scholars put the date of the Creation at 3760 b.c. Greek Orthodox theologians put Creation as far back as 5508 b.c.

These suggestions are also incorrect.

Archbishop James Usher (1580-1656) published Anales Veteris et Novi Testamenti in 1654, which suggested that the Heaven and the Earth were created in 4004 b.c. One of his aides took the calculation further, and was able to announce triumphantly that the Earth was created on Sunday the 21st of October, 4004 b.c., at exactly 9:00 a.m., because God liked to get work done early in the morning while he was feeling fresh.